At long last, the United States' drive for five has come to a fruitful end.

Four years after the U.S. sled hockey team cruised to a 5-0 victory over Canada for a fourth straight Paralympic title, marking the largest margin of victory in a Paralympic gold medal final in history, the Americans did it again, knocking off undefeated Canada, 6-2, for the crown at a third straight Paralympic tournament.

With the win, the Americans become the first hockey team — Olympic or Paralympic — to win five back-to-back titles and the first to complete a hockey golden sweep. Three weeks earlier, on the same sheet of ice in Milan, the United States robbed Canada of Olympic gold in both the men's and women's tournaments.

"This team is so special. We love each other," U.S. defenseman Jack Wallace told NBC's Andrea Joyce after the game. "This team grinded it out, a gritty f—ing game. It was unbelievable. I love these guys so much."

And gritty it was. From the first whistle, both teams launched an incredibly physical campaign, ramming into each other up and down the ice. The United States controlled possession through much of the opening frame, though the Canadian defense wove a seemingly-infallible wall.

Until Wallace found a crack, that is.

Canada took two holding penalties in the first half of the period. Wallace took advantage of the second, scooping up a blocked shot that flew out to the faceoff dot on his left and rifling it through traffic into the top corner of the net for the 1-0 lead. 

It was the first of three goals for the 27-year-old, who entered the game leading all defensemen in Milan with 10 points, marking his first hat trick of the tournament. He also assisted on the United States' fifth goal, potted by Declan Farmer in the third, and led the team in shots (7) in the gold medal game. 

For his efforts throughout the tournament, Wallace was named best defenseman for the second Paralympics in a row.

"It's really easy to play defense when these guys are grinding below the goal line, so I feel like I got pretty lucky," Wallace said. "It just means the world for this team." 

Canada's Liam Hickey tied the score at 1-1 less than two minutes into the second, capitalizing on a rare misstep by a U.S. squad fighting its second nearly-consecutive penalty, but the rivals wouldn't be on an even playing field for long.

With 8:36 left to play, Zach Lavin grabbed the puck from Canadian teammate Anton Jacobs-Webb off a faceoff and dragged it into the middle of the ice. American Kayden Beasley swooped in and stole it, planting a shot in the opposite side of the net before Canadian goalie Corbin Watson was able to slide from post to post.

Beasley, 19, was one of just four Paralympic rookies on the 17-man roster the United States took to Italy. He ended the tournament tied with fellow rookie Brett Bolton with five points, a figure demonstrative of the United States' deep, explosive scoring ability. In the Americans' 14-1 tournament-opening win over the host nation, every one of the players who skated in the game recorded at least one point.

"At least in my career, I've never seen every single person record a point in a single game," Brody Roybal told NBCOlympics.com in an interview Saturday. "We've all just put in so much work coming into this tournament ... and I'm just really proud to see everyone getting crazy stats while we've been here."

Wallace added his second of the game three-and-a-half minutes later, then completed the hat trick to open the final 15 minutes of play.

Hickey again began the next period by decreasing the United States' lead, bringing the score to 4-2 just 24 seconds after Wallace found the back of the net for the third time. A delay of game call assessed to the United States' David Eustace seemingly gave Canada a prime opportunity to add another, but Farmer, the tournament's leading scorer, had other plans.

Despite being shorthanded, the Americans assumed possession of the puck and began crashing the Canadian net. Farmer slid behind the net, dragging the puck with him, and fired a shot backhanded toward Watson's pads. Watson initially made the stop but lost the puck behind his back. As the netminder flopped backward to try and protect his crease, Farmer shoved his stick under Watson's half-sideways sled and poked the puck across the line.

Nine seconds later, after Canada pulled Watson for an extra attacker, Roybal scooted the puck up the ice unchallenged for the United States' sixth and final tally of the game.

Before the gold medal contest, no team had put up more than nine shots on the U.S. net. As expected, Canada proved relentless, recording 15 shots (compared to the United States' 26) by the end of the game. American netminder Griffin Lamarre, in just his third-ever Paralympic start, stopped 13 of those for the win.

The hardest part, he said, was reminding himself to stay present in the game.

"We haven't seen a ton of shots throughout the tournament, so [this was] just an opportunity to go out and play a really, really great team, knowing that I put the training in, I put the work in, and I'm finally gonna see some shots coming my way, and just be ready to stop them," Lamarre, 29, said after the game. "Just knowing that [they're] going to defend hard in front of me, and as long as we defend hard and put in some goals, then I can kind of just go with the flow and play my game."

Four years ago, China fielded its first-ever Paralympic team and took bronze on home ice. The country battled its way to 3rd place once again in Milan, outlasting a gritty Czech team in the bronze medal final to secure another prize.

The two countries have grown very familiar with each other since the 2022 Beijing Games. They've gone head-to-head for bronze at each of the last three world championships, with Czechia squeezing out one-goal wins each time, including a 2-1 overtime victory at the most recent edition of the tournament.

Czechia proved resilient and determined throughout its entire tenure in Milan. Though the country eventually fell in its matchups against Canada and the United States, it refused to go down without a fight, breaking Canada's two-game shutout streak and handing the United States its smallest margin of victory through four games.

That dogged spirit remained in the bronze medal contest. The Czechs came out fast and furious, launching a physical offensive attack and finding the back of the net twice in the first two-and-a-half minutes. Pavel Kubes recorded his first goal of the tournament, and Radek Zelinka potted his fourth. 

After some regrouping, China responded with two of their own tallies, scored by Tian Jintao and Wang Zhidong two minutes apart, but two back-to-back penalties to end the period killed the country's momentum.

The score remained locked at 2-2 through the middle 15 minutes of play, but just 18 seconds into the final period, Tian found the back of the net for the lead. Czechia remained strong through the finish but was unable to find an equalizer. 

Czech goalie Patrik Sedlacek was the star of the game — and possibly the best goalie of the whole tournament — effortlessly sliding post-to-post and robbing China of several seemingly-undeniable scoring chances. Through five games in Milan, Sedlacek stopped 87 of 103 shots on net (0.844 save percentage).

During its four previous Paralympic appearances, Czechia never had advanced beyond the preliminary round. The country placed 5th in 2010 and 2014, then 6th in 2018 and 2022.